X Marks the Spot
by Kapperz1212
Summary: August Challenge off of sillybella's Twilight Challenge Forum. oneshot, a night in Emmett McCarty's human life.


_Author's note- This is for sillybella's august twilight challenge. _

**#1. In Emmett and the Bear, Emmett says, "I thought what happened next was my judgment. I'd had a little too much fun in my twenty human years, so I wasn't surprised by the fires of hell."  
Write a one-shot about something he did for which he expected the 'fires of hell'.**

_Disclaimer- I own nothing of the twilight series. No copyright infringement is intended._

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**Emmett McCarty, 1934.**

I lifted myself up from the ground, pushing the dust off of my shirt and pants. The thick green stalks of the cornfield swayed in the wind. I looked down at Evelyn offering her my hand as she attempted to heave herself up off of the ground as well. There were small holes where she had dug her heels into the ground, and scratch marks where her hands had pulled at the dirt. I pulled her into my chest, wrapping my large arms around her tiny frame, barely resisting dipping her into her previous position. She giggled softly as I tossed her up into the air, showing off just a little.

I captured her small hand in mine, leading her back to civilization. "Emmett," her sweet southern voice rang like bells. "You know as good and right as I do that we shouldn't be doing this." Her voice suddenly saddened.

"Yeah." My voice sounded so low, so rough compared to hers.

"My father-" She paused for a second, horrified. "He, well he would never understand." She stopped walking, her hand slipping away from mine. I turned to face those big green eyes. "But maybe, if he knew how much…" I feared the next words; dread pulsed through me as solidly as my blood did, " how much I love you." Her eyes fell quickly to the ground and then back to me, weighing my reaction.

My heart sank. Why did all of the girls have to be so set on commitment? Couldn't I just satisfy a few of my carnal desires before needing to marry anybody? My smile fell.

"Mmm. Maybe." Avoidance tactics had always been my specialty. I put my hands deep into my pockets walking ahead of her. I heard the soft and hurt footsteps of her as she followed me out of the field. But I knew I could escape scathe-free. Evelyn would be too ashamed of our "relations" to tell anyone about them, and I could move onto the next woman willing to satisfy my needs. I did feel sort of bad though as she turned onto the sidewalk of Main Street her arms pulled around herself like she was too cold. "See you soon Evelyn." I called grinning hugely, attempting to push her last three words out of my mind, she smiled sheepishly back at me.

I walked slowly back to my house. I could hear the boys. My cheeks lifted into a huge smile as I ran to the back of the house; sure enough Joe, Ray, and Simon were lounging behind the porch. Joe perched on a wooden box nearly spilling the bottle of whiskey in his hand as he laughed, Ray rolling on the ground clutching his side as he too howled in laughter. I looked around to see what I was missing and noticed Simon holding his face in his hands.

"Trespassing is illegal, even in these podunks, chumps." I laughed, barely holding the menacing tone. Simon looked up at me; his chin was split open but mostly scabbed over, there was a purple and blue bruise that was already forming. "What in hell happened to you Simon?"

Ray's face contorted as he sat up and looked over towards Simon, still chuckling, "Lucy caught him peeking through her window while she was changing." I fell to my knees; the booming laughs shaking my shoulders. The image of Joe's little sister punching Simon in the face was too much.

"Yeah I'd a' whooped him to death if my sister hadn't beaten me to it." Joe barely got his sentence out between his gulps of humor and alcohol.

I grabbed Simon's face examining a battle wound I knew all too well. For some reason I just couldn't steer clear of fights.

"It'll be fine Si. Don't worry yourself on it, nothing could a' made you look worse than before." This threw the guys into another fit of laughter. I grabbed up the spare bottle of whiskey sitting next to the wooden box and took a heavy swig. The liquid made my throat hot as it poured down.

"Where'd you find this?" I nodded to Joe, lifting the bottle.

"Off a' your kitchen counter." He replied, tilting the one in his hand back again.

"Nice." I grimaced. But as Simon turned his face back to me I spat the liquor back out in a laugh.

"When did this happen?" I asked my voice still shaking a little with laughter, pointing to his swollen jaw.

"About half an hour ago. We stumbled back here to wait for you to be done with the snob so that we could figure out what we were gonna do tonight." Simon's voice was annoyed but calm.

"So what _are _we gonna do tonight?" I managed through a hiccup.

Ray and Joe had straightened up enough to speak. "Let's hit up the old Crowley place."

"That's been condemned for years." Simon complained.

"Oh come on Simon, don't be a little girl." Joe whined. "Never mind, too late." He amended. More laughter flew from us. Seriousness was not a thing we knew very well. I wondered aimlessly how loud we would have to be to wake up my drunkard father as I gulped down more alcohol.

"Let's do it." I pushed. "I hear its haunted." Joe chucked his now empty bottle into the field sprawled out in front of us; the crunch of glass sounded some dozen yards away in the grass.

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The ancient house was on the very outskirts of town a good couple miles from the nearest neighbor. Its wrought iron fence looked rusty and overgrown with invasive plants. The yard was twisted and brown, plus a clearly neglected porch hung from the front of the house. The grey shutters creaked in the wind. A perfect picture of spooky.

"This is gonna be fun." I grinned. Joe and Ray nodded, smiling as Simon groaned. "C'mon Simon you can lead." I chuckled.

"No! Y'all are more messed in the head that I thought if you think that I'm just gonna march on up there and-" Joe shoved him hard on the back, forcing him through the front gate. He turned back and glared at us before continuing up the invisible path to the front door.

"Look, there are chains. They obviously don't want us to go in if they took the trouble to secure chains over the door." Simon rolled his eyes as he turned to face back the way we came. I eyed the chains greedily, considering the thickness of the metal loops.

"No one said we were invited Si." Ray chuckled grabbing at my bottle for a chug of whiskey.

"Emmett?" Joe smiled suggestively, eyeing the chains as well.

"I think I could." I murmured. Reaching up to the chains I felt the grime and dirt, which made the grip on the metal practically slick. I tensed my arms and pulled. After a few tries I gave it a final yank before one of the links gave in. Pride in my strength never failed. It gave me this cocky _I could rule the world if I felt like it_ feeling. I lived for that.

"And that's why we keep you around." Ray mused as he shoved the door open. A breath of dust broke from the entryway causing all of us to cough and spit.

"Cozy." Joe smiled stepping through the door, dust flying into the air with every step he took.

"This place's gross. No wonder people think its haunted it looks like no one's been in here for decades." Simon complained and we ignored him. I looked around the room. It was only interrupted with a staircase in the very center of it. The only other objects were a desk shoved against the far wall and an old lamp lying sideways in the middle of the room. Cobwebs hung like decorations from the corners of the walls.

Ray peeled a piece of the wallpaper from the sidewall. A gaping hole was revealed and about seven spiders scampered out into the dusty room. I shivered involuntarily; I hated spiders.

"Let's check out upstairs." I said rather loudly heading for the staircase. It looked awfully rickety. In fact this entire house looked as if it was ready to collapse at any second. For the rebellious boy in me, well it was just too risky to resist.

After the fifth stair cracked under my weight I hurried up the last ten. The upstairs was nearly as bare as the lower floor had been. I kicked a ball that had been lying on the ground aimlessly towards the wall; it shot through a window shattering the glass loudly. I cringed a little bit before laughing and lifting the bottle of whiskey to my lips again.

"Nice, Emmett." Ray said emerging from the top of the stairs.

I chuckled but didn't reply. My attention had already been caught by a cherry wood armoire pushed against the southern wall.

I ran my fingers over its once-shiny surface. The dust clung to the pads of my fingers. I made a figure 'x'; the revealed ruby colored wood looked like gashes in the dust-covered skin of the dresser.

The antique handles on the drawers resembled claws. I pulled the top one open cautiously. Something rolled around inside, but when the bottom of the drawer appeared empty I couldn't help but wonder if I was hearing things…or if things were hiding from me. I yanked the drawer off of its tracks and let it clatter to the floor. One corner of the bottom was a bit more elevated than the others. I got down to my hands and knees, morbid curiosity getting the best of me. I pressed against one of the lowered corners and my excitement seemed to explode as the bottom of the drawer slowly tilted itself upwards. I pulled it free, tossing it aside.

A pearl necklace, four heavily jeweled pairs of earrings, and a hefty diamond engagement ring lay on top of a lacy cloth at the _real_ bottom of the drawer. I felt my eyes go wide with awe.

Ray whistled over my shoulder, " I'll bet those are worth a bundle." My fingers wrapped carefully around the necklace, I watched as each pearl fell into alignment as it was lifted into the air. Even coated in a decade of neglect, the stones seemed to shine. Hidden treasure. I guess 'x' really does mark the spot. I stifled a laugh at my own stupid humor.

" Ya see Simon? I told you this would be worthwhile." Joe called as he kneeled down next to me.

"You never said that!" Simon yelled from across the room.

"I sure did. That blow to your head just knocked your brain around a bit, 'ats all." Ray, Joe, and I chuckled to ourselves as Simon muttered angrily under his breath.

"Aw, Simon. We're just playin' around. Lighten up a little." I cried, pulling the other jewels out of the drawer. " Besides look what I just found us."

"What are _we_ supposed to do with jewelry?" He stared incredulously at us.

"Sell it, numb skull. What else?" Ray rolled his eyes impatiently. The floor whined beneath my feet as I rose to stand.

"We need to go, this house doesn't seem very stable." Simon's nervous eyes surveyed the walls and floors beneath us. "It looks like it could collapse any minute." I gulped remembering that I had noticed the exact same thing.

"Stop being such a scaredy cat, Si." Joe whined taking another chug of the liquor from his hand before standing like the rest of us.

"Nah, guys I think Simon's right we should probably get outta here." The jewels in my hands felt heavier than ever as I closed my fists over them. I began to walk back towards the top of the stairs. The floor cried beneath each one of my steps, protesting the shifts in my weight.

A loud crack broke through the still air. I froze in place, scared to move even one muscle. But the floor collapsed anyways, giving way. I heard the yells of my friends, and felt the thump of the wood and plaster as it rammed me from all angles. The dust that swirled through the air was thick enough to coat my mouth. The heavy weight of debris pressed against my broad shoulders and the tops of my knees as I lay beneath what used to be the Crowley house.

I waited for a few moments, regulating my breathing a little and trying to determine if any damage had been done to me. Once I had decided I was calm enough to move I began to shove things off of me. After about ten minutes I could see the starry sky. I had never been so happy to escape out from underneath something.

I looked into my now empty hands. A deep sigh escaped from my lungs. But treasure that hasn't been earned is never treasure lost, right? We'd leave as rich as we'd come.

I glanced frantically around scanning the wreckage for my friends. Simon lay in the front yard, his chest heaving in panic.

"Si?" I called out.

"Ye- yeah?" His voice cracked.

"Ya alright?"

"Apart from being terrified to hell and back I think I'll be fine." He cried back. I held back another laugh. A yell about six feet to my right announced Joe's status of recovery.

"God damn it Emmett! When did you get so fat that you'd bring down a whole house?" The thick crust of dust in his hair, making him appear at least 20 years older, complimented his surly mood.

" 's been a long time coming I would say." Ray commented, popping his head out a little to the right of Joe.

"Woops." I shrugged.

"Yeah," Simon smirked looking around at the destruction, "woops is right."

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_Author's note- Leave a review :)_


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